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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29152809">in my head</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlunaGray/pseuds/AlunaGray'>AlunaGray</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Crossover, Gen, Hibari Kyoya is inside Tom Riddle's head, Humor, Master of Death Harry Potter, Time Travel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:33:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,118</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29152809</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlunaGray/pseuds/AlunaGray</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Where Harry Potter goes back in time several times and meets a version of Tom Riddle he didn't really expect. A Harry Potter and Katekyo Hitman Reborn crossover story. Time-travel. AU.</p><p>(OR that version of MOD-Harry-Potter-time-travels-into-Tom-Riddle's-time trope where Harry meets a Tom that wasn't exactly Tom because he had a lazy carnivore inside his head that worked as his "conscience" and helped him on his way to world domination.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Potter &amp; Tom Riddle, Tom Riddle &amp; Hibari Kyouya</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>88</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>in my head</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>1.</strong>
</p><p>When Harry Potter first went back in time, the first thing he saw was a bedraggled plain-looking pregnant woman selling her Slytherin Locket in Borgin and Burkes.</p><p>"Fuck," Harry coughed from the floo powder that greeted him right in the face. "What the fuck, Death? Why am I here?"</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>2.</strong>
</p><p>No one answered Harry, of course.</p><p>He didn't expect the entity to answer actually, because the omnipotent being could be a vindictive little shit if they wanted to be, and considering the time they spent together, Harry wasn't as surprised with the current situation as he should have been.</p><p>Harry didn't know what put Death into a snit this time but coaxing them out of their tantrum wasn't in his list of priorities at the moment so-</p><p>After he finished fixing himself up, Harry put on his big-boy-briefs and convinced Merope Gaunt not to get scammed out of her money.</p><p>Yes.</p><p>Although he did dislike Tom Riddle's guts, Harry still had a conscience and wouldn't let a pregnant woman get tricked off with the only thing she had of value.</p><p>Even as years passed and Harry grew older while his appearance remained perpetually the same, Harry wasn't quite jaded enough or heartless enough to just point blank leave someone to their fate if he could actually do something to help.</p><p>Harry sighed.</p><p>That's just his hero-complex at its work, people. Please move on and go ahead. No headline-worthy news here. It's the same old routine all over again.</p><p>Let's hope this wouldn't backfire on his arse.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>3.</strong>
</p><p>It took time before Harry finally persuaded Merope Gaunt to book it out of there and sell the locket to him instead.</p><p>The woman was understandably wary because he, <em>literally</em>, came out of nowhere with the offer. If this was under more normal circumstances, Harry doubted Merope would even dare to talk to him.</p><p>Hell, if a dubious man suddenly approach him out of nowhere in the name of "goodwill", Harry wouldn't entertain himself either but Merope Gaunt was currently out of luck, pregnant and desperate so-</p><p>Harry's now the new owner of the Slytherin's locket in this alternate timeline.</p><p>(If there was any bright side about this situation, at least even if this backfires on Harry's arse, it'll ruin the theme Voldemort would be going for once the madman finally butchered his soul into deranged little pieces.)</p><p>Harry gave all the money he had on him. It wasn't much since he got transferred back with nary a warning but it was quite a sizable sum.</p><p>If one would consider how precious this artifact was, however-</p><p>The locket was still bought below the market value.</p><p>The amount he gave was considerably larger in comparison to those tight-fisted arseholes in Borgin and Burkes' though so there's that.</p><p>Harry hoped that the money he gave would be sufficient enough for Merope to have a better end this time around.</p><p>Maybe enough to allow her to give birth in a wizarding hospital with better facilities.</p><p>Or, if she wasn't willing to spend it on herself, enough to give little Tom Riddle some savings once he reached Hogwarts.</p><p>After all, for all her sins and karma she wrought from drugging a muggle for the greater part of his life due to "love", the unborn fetus that would eventually become Voldemort wasn't really at fault in this and shouldn't bear the mistakes his mother made.</p><p>Who knows-</p><p>Maybe this Tom wouldn't end up like the Voldemort Harry met.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>4.</strong>
</p><p>"What do you have to say for yourself?" Harry started after he came back to his current time, looking at the ball of darkness in front of him sternly.</p><p>"I'm not your pet or your son, master," Death reminded.</p><p>Harry backtracked. "Are you still angry?"</p><p>The ball of darkness sighed.</p><p>"No, I'm not."</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>5.</strong>
</p><p>The second time Harry went back in time, Harry woke up to what seemed to be the backyard of a relatively big building.</p><p>He was lying down on his back in a clearing that only had him and-</p><p>Oh, a small toddler petting his snake gently was with him too.</p><p>Wiping away the grass stains on the back of his coat wandlessly with the flick of his hand, Harry sat up and opened his mouth to speak, however-</p><p>"That's not a snack," The little boy who looked no older than five-years-old hissed solemnly to his snake in parseltongue.</p><p>Harry closed his mouth shut.</p><p>"Are you sure?" The snake hissed back doubtfully.</p><p>"<em>Yes.</em>"</p><p>"What is it then?"</p><p>"That's probably a her- herbwi-," The toddler paused switching to human speak because it seemed like he couldn't properly pronounce the word he would like to say, "<em>herbwivo</em>'."</p><p>"Herbivore," Harry couldn't help but correct.</p><p>The toddler didn't even spare him a glance.</p><p>"What?" The snake asked, confused at the term.</p><p>The baby pursed his lips, looking mildly embarrassed as he slowly turned on the side - giving Harry his back. "Something that's not very tasty I think."</p><p>The snake was silent. Probably not sure how to reply to that.</p><p>"Something yucky," The boy added helpfully. "You don't know where that came from."</p><p>Harry coughed slightly. Excuse me?</p><p>"Oh."</p><p>"Let me find you some mice instead."</p><p>"Okay!"</p><p>Harry slumped back down tiredly.</p><p>He wondered why Death was like this.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>6.</strong>
</p><p>Let it be known that Harry did try to introduce himself to what seemed to be the toddler-version of Tom Riddle in the timeline he traveled into.</p><p>Because you know, Harry actually wanted to talk to the brat and <em>benevolently</em> inform him that-</p><p>One, Harry's not yucky.</p><p>Two, Harry eats meat. He wasn't a herbivore or a vegetarian or whatever it was that Tom Riddle wants to say and if he ever was, it wasn't a bad thing. Snakes also eat herbivores little Tom. It's part of the circle of life.</p><p>Last, he may look unkempt right now but Harry showered before he was sent here thank you very much so he doesn't deserve this kind of treatment.</p><p>However, before Harry even got the chance to talk again, the precocious baby that was his previous nemesis patted his butt and walked away.</p><p>"What kind of mice would you like? I think the matron found a lot of rats yesterday so you can take your pick." The toddler asked his pet happily.</p><p>"I think I'd like a big one this time."</p><p>Okay.</p><p>Harry could take a hint. He knew when he wasn't wanted.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>7.</strong>
</p><p>Harry decided to walk around instead and let himself get familiar with the place to pass the time. Just wait it out before Death cooled down again and let him return home.</p><p>Looking around the well-cared-for institution - he was mildly surprised to realize that this was the same Wool's Orphanage that Tom Riddle was in before.</p><p>A less rundown version that was, but still the same one according to the people he asked on the way.</p><p>Harry thought that this was probably where a part of his money went to after Merope left her son here. She probably didn't survive the aftermath of her childbirth because of the complications she acquired from the inbreeding the Gaunt family had trapped themselves into and decided to fund the place where her son would stay instead.</p><p>Wool's Orphanage, with enough funding, had more tolerance for odd kids like Tom, Harry guessed.</p><p>After all, baby Tom Riddle had plump cheeks and could even afford to take care of a pet snake this time around.</p><p>Then again, Harry wasn't informed enough about Tom's past to make an accurate prediction on the current situation.</p><p>Maybe baby Tom Riddle always did have a pet snake and like to speak in strange terms before he grew out of it. It was a likely conjecture - especially since the war was just starting this time around.</p><p>Once it finally went into full <em>swing-</em></p><p>It would be doubtful if Tom could keep the innocence he had now.</p><p>Returning back to the spot Harry woke up in, he paused when, on his way there, Harry witnessed a gang of three older kids surround his toddler nemesis.</p><p>Baby Tom Riddle put down his pet snake behind him carefully, then faced the three older kids with a brave front - cheeks puffed up in what seemed to be his attempt in intimidation.</p><p>Harry would have intervened (because even if he knew the kid would eventually devolve into a dark lord, the kid was really kind of cute, and seeing the situation invoke a sense of nostalgia and sympathy from Harry), however-</p><p>He stopped on his tracks once baby Tom Riddle smiled sweetly before saying in a milky tone,</p><p>"I'll bite you all to death, herbivores."</p><p>Harry didn't have the time to know how the toddler would <em>do</em> that or marvel where Tom Riddle learned "biting herbivores to death" from (Harry was pretty sure Animal Channel still wasn't a thing in this time period), because a second after this <em>intimidating</em> line was mentioned, Harry traveled back to his current timeline again.</p><p>He didn't know how to feel about this situation.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>8.</strong>
</p><p>The third time Harry went back to the alternate timeline he visited before-</p><p>He opened the door, expecting to see his apartment's living room, but got Wool's Orphanage's welcoming desk instead.</p><p>Harry sighed.</p><p>Minutes after Dumbledore left too from the looks of it since according to his habitual cursory sweep in the building for any magical traces, Dumbledore's magical stink was all over the place.</p><p>Harry hummed.</p><p>From what Harry could remember in Dumbledore's memories before, the first and only time he went to this place was when he introduced an eleven-year-old Tom Riddle to Hogwarts and handed him his letter.</p><p>He wondered if the old coot still set the closet of his little nemesis on fire.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>9.</strong>
</p><p>Since Harry already deduced that most of his current traveling adventures seemed to revolve an awful lot around Tom Riddle, he just ran with it and acted as naturally as he could.</p><p>Which was kind of difficult mind you, since he didn't even know why he was here in the first place.</p><p>Death wouldn't tell him anything and would still deny that they were ever angry at all.</p><p>As if Harry would believe that bullshit.</p><p>The entity was petty and more vindictive than the pettiest person Harry knew. He was sure this was some convoluted plot of Death's device.</p><p>However, he couldn't outargue Death even if tried - mostly because the entity wouldn't even reply to Harry in the first place and would just occasionally fight back with passive-aggressive remarks.</p><p>So-</p><p>Harry decided that assuaging his curiosity on the current state of this version of Tom Riddle would be the best instead of stressing himself out over the entity that started stalking him after he gathered the three deathly hallows.</p><p>It would be a waste not to take advantage of the chance given to him and well-</p><p>Harry did want to find a new way to entertain himself lately.</p><p>Smiling weakly at the woman in front of him, Harry said,</p><p>"I want to adopt someone."</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>10.</strong>
</p><p>Harry concluded that this Tom Riddle - for some reason, had enough brains to hold back from the start thereby, changing the matron's opinion of the kid into something more acceptable.</p><p>Although the matron still mentioned how Tom was an odd kid who's dearly attached to his pet snake, Tom wasn't accused of killing any pets and stealing other kid's valuables when Harry asked about him.</p><p>He wondered if this was the power of money and Animal Planet terminologies.</p><p>"Is Tom close to any of the orphans here?" Harry asked curiously.</p><p>The matron avoided his eyes. "One could say that he is. He is a very charming child, after all."</p><p>"One could say?" Harry echoed. "Can you please expound on that?"</p><p>She hummed and arranged the files on her desk. "The kids seem to look up to him as a leader and encourage them to help around the orphanage every once in a while."</p><p>"A leader?"</p><p>She smiled uneasily. "Yes."</p><p>Harry paused.</p><p>"Why didn't anyone adopt him yet, if this was so?"</p><p>"Not many have the luxury to do so during these hard times, Mr. Peverell."</p><p>"I'm sure even before the war started, Tom was in high demand."</p><p>"Before his mother left him here, she asked for Tom to be given the choice if he wanted to stay here or not."</p><p>Merope must have given a lot for the matron to indulge Tom like this.</p><p>"He stayed here, then."</p><p>"He stayed," The matron confirmed almost in a rueful manner.</p><p>"I have one last question."</p><p>The matron sighed. "Why don't you just meet him so he can answer you himself, Mr. Peverell?"</p><p>Harry smiled apologetically.</p><p>"Okay. Let's do that."</p>
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